I know that it's been a really long time since i updated, and it's mostly a case of real life getting in the way, and i've also been working on a new fanfiction as well, which i recommend that you check out Stargate Sg1: Revolutions Hopefully i can get back on track with the upadates, especially since i've figured out how the year is going to end. As always any feedback will be appreciated, and changes to proper names, spelling, etc. are probably going to be worked out at the very end of the story when i do the final version.

The Chronicles of Merlin:

Chapter Thirteen

November 4th, Hogwarts, the Great Hall…

Harry had just finished his morning exercises and had just walked into the great hall when he was nearly pounced on by Ginny, Hermione, Draco, and Ron.

"Harry, where have you been?" Hermione asked almost in a panic.

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Ginny asked.

"What are you two talking about?" Harry asked in confusion as he wondered what was going on.

"Here," Draco said as he handed Harry the daily Prophet.

"Harry looked down, the headline immediately getting his attention. "Dumbledore vs. Fudge."

In a surprise announcement by the Ministry of Magic there will be a custody hearing for the legal guardianship of Harry, the reincarnation of Merlin.

On one side of the argument is Albus Dumbledore, the current headmaster of Hogwarts, Supreme Mugwump, and Order of Merlin First Class, and on the other side Cornelius Fudge, the current minister of magic, and Order of the Second Class.

Albus Dumbledore recently reveled his interest in the guardianship of Harry, sighting the need for a proper guardian to make sure that Harry grows into a productive member of society.

Cornelius Fudge made a similar argument, but sighted the fact that Harry would only receive the proper guidance under a carefully controlled ministry curriculum.

Both prominent members of wizarding society have already made claims that the other is using Harry as a tool for their own political and financial ambitions…

Harry didn't bother to finish reading the article as he crumpled it up angrily and threw it on the ground before storming outside.

Ginny, Hermione, Draco, and Ron quickly followed Harry outside, finally catching up with him outside of the castle.

"Harry mate," Ron asked as he watched Harry pace. "Are you going to be alright?" He had never seen Harry this angry. In fact he had never really seen Harry angry.

"Don't worry about this Harry." Draco said. "I'll contact my father. I know that he'll be able to do something about this. What if he requested to adopt you instead?" He offered.

"That isn't the point!" Harry said angrily. "What they are doing is criminal! They're trying to steam roll me. They act as if I'm an object, a tool for their own ambitions. Neither one of them give a damn about what I think or anyone else!"

"What are you talking about Harry?" Hermione asked. She knew what the headmaster and minister were doing was wrong, but there was no law preventing it.

"This isn't the same world that Merlin died defending." Harry said as his anger began to dissolve. "The wizarding population has subjugated and marginalized every other magical being, and because of it they have grown weak and complacent.

They are not only content to be lead around the nose by every would be minister and headmaster that comes along, but they now seem to need it.

They don't even realize that what they are doing is guaranteeing the extinction of the entire wizarding race."

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked. How could all of that mean the extinction of the wizarding race?

"How much more do you think that the other magical races are going to put up with? How long before they say they've had enough?" Harry asked not waiting for an answer. "Unless something changes very quickly they will rise up against us."

"You think there will be enough of them to destroy all of us?" Draco asked in shock.

"There are less witches and wizards born every year, while the populations of the other magical races remain constant. It is an inevitability. If we don't embrace them as equals soon, they will do to us what the other witches and wizards did to them." Harry warned.

"Hermione what would someone in the muggle world do if they didn't agree with a law?" Harry asked, going off subject.

"Well, they would probably speak to a member of parliament, and failing that they would protest the law until it was changed." Hermione responded not sure where Harry was going with this.

"I've been reading as much as I could about recent wizarding history, and I've found out what happens to anyone that speaks out." Harry said.

"What do you mean Harry?" Ron asked. A lot of the things that Harry had said made a lot of sense. It was strange that he hadn't considered them until now.

"Everyone that has spoken out against the ministry has been labeled a dark lord, and persecuted by the law." Harry explained. "Tell me, have any of you heard of someone called Octavious Grindewald?"

"Of course," Hermione answered automatically. "He was a dark lord killed by Headmaster Dumbledore in 1945."

"Yes he was." Harry replied. "But do you know why he was killed?"

"He was killing other wizards and witches, he had to be stopped." Ron answered, wondering where Harry was going with this.

"Really?" Harry asked. "Who did he kill?"

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked. "He killed lots of people. My parents told me all about it."

"Then why, in three days of searching have I never found a single mention of one actual person that Octavious Grindewald killed? There are plenty of newspaper reports that say he killed hundreds of people, but the actual names of the people are missing."

Hermione, Draco, Ron and Ginny stood their thinking about what Harry said. This didn't make any sense. Why wouldn't there be a list of people that Grindewald killed?

"I started digging even more after that." Harry continued. "I researched other dark lords, and do you know what I found?" Harry asked.

Harry's friends just shook their heads, wondering. "Names… Every other dark lord had a list of people that they killed. It only took me a few hours to find their victims, for five of the dark lords before him, and the dark lord after him."

"What are you saying Harry?" Hermione asked, she didn't like what all of this was leading to.

"Something doesn't feel right about what happened to Grindewald. This may not be the first time the ministry steam rolled someone. I don't know what really happened to Lord Grindewald, or even if he was a dark lord. All I know for sure is that the ones in power now know something about what happened."

"Are you saying that Cornelius Fudge, and Albus Dumbledore conspired against this Octavious Grindewald?" Draco asked in shock.

"Both Cornelius Fudge, and Albus Dumbledore rose to power shortly after the fall of Grindewald," Harry pointed out, neither agreeing or disagreeing with what Draco said.

"Do you think that they have something similar planned for you?" Ginny asked in alarm.

"It's a probability," Harry admitted. "But the chance of something like that backfiring is too high. The political fallout would be too much to risk."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Every wizard and witch in the world knows the name Merlin." Draco explained. "That name is known internationally as one of the greatest and most powerful wizards in history. The witches and wizards in England may believe everything that the minister and headmaster say, but the rest of the world will need more proof than the word of a school teacher and a politician."

"What about you Harry?" Hermione asked. "What are you going to do? You can't let either one of them adopt you." She couldn't imagine how horrible they would try to make Harry's life.

"I know." Harry sighed. "The minister is more than likely already changing laws to increase his chances against Dumbledore, and Dumbledore is probably turning the wizengamot against Fudge as we speak."

"From the looks of things they're probably going to be arguing for weeks about it." Ron said. The whole thing was ridiculous, if anyone knew how to take care of themselves it would be Harry.

"That's it!" Harry said as he looked over at Ron.

"What's 'it'?" Ron asked, confused.

"You're brilliant you know that Ron?" Harry said with a smile at the idea.

"…okay." Ron said in confusion. "Why exactly am I brilliant this time?"

"Fudge and Dumbledore are going to argue for weeks to see who gets custody of me, that can work." Harry decided. "Draco, forget what I said before." Harry turned to his other friend. "Ask your father if he can try to adopt me, and ask him to ask anyone else that he can trust to do the same."

"I get it Harry." Draco said chuckling. "As long as they're arguing about who gets custody over you no one can get custody over you."

"Ron, Ginny, would you be able to get your parents to do the same?" Harry asked.

"Of course Harry," Ginny said with a smile.

"Yeah mate," Ron agreed. "As far as we're concerned you're already one of the family."

"Come on," Harry said as he led them back into the great hall. "I just need one more person's help."

"Luna!" Harry called as he walked over to the Ravenclaw table.

"Hi Harry," Luna said dreamily as she stared at the current incarnation of Merlin.

"I was wondering if you could help me with something Luna?" Harry asked as he sat down beside her.

"Are you looking for the crumple horned Snorlack's too?" Luna asked. "My father and I haven't had any luck yet, we thought we were sure once in Poland, but it turned out to be just a trick of the light," she finished off feeling disappointed.

"Oh…, that's probably because you were looking in the wrong place," Harry said absently.

"What?" Hermione jumped in. "There's no such things as a crumple horned Snorlack Harry." Hermione replied. She had quite a few conversations with Luna, but she could never quite convince her of that.

"Sure there is Hermione." Harry disagreed. "Luna, crumple horned Snorlack's prefer warmer climates. The last time I saw one was in Brazil, of course that was a few hundred years ago…" Harry trailed off realizing that he'd been drawn of track.

"Well I guess that makes sense." Luna agreed. "Thank you Harry." She said with a bright smile. "What did you need help with?"

"Your father owns the Quibbler right?" Harry asked as Luna nodded. "Good, because it turns out that the Headmaster and the Minister seem to want to adopt me. I was wondering if you could ask your father to see if anyone else would be willing to adopt me?"

Luna started laughing hysterically at the idea, drawing quite a few stares from the rest of the house, most if which hadn't heard the conversation that she had with Harry.

"Thank you Luna, I can always count on you." Harry said with a smile as got up to leave for classes. He had Herbology with Hermione soon.

"Harry are you sure that was wise?" Hermione asked as she caught up with him.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Asking Luna for help, her father's 'newspaper' is a tabloid." Hermione said. "And she isn't the most logical person in the world either." She pointed out.

"I know." Harry agreed. "That's what I like about her. She can think outside of the box. Approaching a problem logically is only get you so far, sometimes you have to go on faith."

"But still Harry," Hermione conceded that point however reluctantly. "Are you sure you want to use a tabloid to get your message across? I think that you'd have a much easier time of it if you used the Daily Prophet." She insisted.

"Have you ever looked into who runs the prophet?" Harry asked.

"No, but what does that have to do with anything?" Hermione asked.

"They're owned by the ministry," Harry revealed. "It's nothing more than a ministry propaganda machine."

"How do you know that?" Hermione wondered why Harry would be searching for that.

"I came across it in a book when I was researching materials to make my staff with." Harry explained. "Which makes the Quibbler the only free newspaper in Britain."

"I hope you're right about this," Hermione said, clearly believing that it was a gamble.

"Me too." Harry replied. "There was one other thing I needed to talk to you about as well."

"What's that?" Hermione wondered.

"I need you to watch out for Luna, she's told me what some of the other kids do to her." Harry replied.

"I know," Hermione said with a scowl. She didn't like how some of the other members of her house treated Luna as well. Sure, she had her fare share of disagreements with the girl, but she had never let is escalate.

"She reminds me a lot of you." Harry said as they continued to walk.

"What?" Hermione said coming to a halt. She didn't think they had very much in common at all.

"Well… you're both very smart." Harry said. "And when you believe something there's very little anyone else can do to change your minds. In fact the only-" Harry suddenly stopped with a gasp.

"What is it Harry?" Hermione asked, wondering what was going on.

"I can feel it again… there's something or someone very powerful in this school." Harry said as he leaned against the wall for support.

"Was it the same thing as before?" Hermione asked, remembering that Harry had said much the same thing a month ago.

"I… think so… why can't I remember it? It feels so familiar." Harry asked himself in frustration.

"Do you know if it's dangerous?" Hermione asked.

"I'm not sure… maybe." Harry replied, starting to block his senses from the power. "Whatever it is we have to be prepared. Tonight, after classes we'll continue with the lessons."

"Ok Harry." Hermione agreed. "Do you think we should inform the teachers?"

"No," Harry sighed in relief when the power faded from his senses. "It's gone now, and the teachers would never believe us. If they can't feel it for themselves they'll think we're making it up."

November 4th, Hogwarts, East wall of the Castle…

The waiting was finally over. She could feel it for certain this time. He was weaker than she remembered last but Merlin was back, he was in the castle somewhere, it was just a matter of finding him now.

"The time is coming Merlin, the time for my revenge, and nothing shall save you from it!" She promised as she stared at the castle.

This school was the most likely place that he would be. If she knew anything at all about Merlin it was the fact that he was always looking for new magic's to learn. It was an inevitability that he would be here.

Unfortunately the magic's of Hogwarts worked both ways. Just as she could feel Merlin he could feel her, but that was it. The magic that was contained inside Hogwarts blanketed the area, making pinpointing an individual magical signature impossible. She could be standing right next to Merlin and she would never know it.

November 4th, Hogwarts, the room of requirement…

Harry walked into the room of requirement to find Ron, Draco, and Hermione already there waiting for him. "You all did very well last night." Harry said, remembering how well they had done creating their mental interfaces.

"Draco, would you like to start first?" Harry asked.

"Sure Harry," Draco said as he sat down beside his friend.

"Ron Hermione, please do the exercises that I showed you yesterday.

Ron and Hermione started to jog around a track that formed in the room. They still needed a lot of work on the physical side of things.

Harry looked into Draco's eyes, delving into his mind. When he opened them he found himself in Draco's mind which was fairly similar to Hermione and Ron's so far.

There was a large lake off to the side, and grass intermixed with spots of soil, that were slowly being filled with grass.

"Not bad," Harry said as he looked around. "I can see some improvements since last night." He complimented.

"Thanks," Draco said as he looked around as well. The forest definitely looked a little greener now. "What are you teaching today?"

"I think that you'll like this one in particular." Harry said with a smile as a gigantic war elephant popped into existence. It was easily three times the size of a regular elephant.

"What the hell is that?" Draco demanded as he fell back in shock.

"This is Dende," Harry said with a smile as he patted the war elephant's leg. "He is the guardian of my mind. If anyone where to enter my mind without permission they would face him."

"Has that ever happened before?" Draco asked as he stared in awe at the animal.

"Not yet, Dende for the most part stops aggressive assaults on my mind shields." Harry explained.

"And you're going to teach me how to do that?" Draco asked.

"Yes, now think of an animal, preferably something you revere. Something you associate with strength." Harry explained.

Draco closed his eyes as he thought. There was only one animal that he could think of that would fit the bill. An image began to form in his mind of a large dragon, it's scales completely white and it's eyes a deep blue.

Finally when Draco opened his eyes he was disappointed not to see the dragon that he had envisioned. "What happened? Did I do something wrong?"

"No you did great," Harry said with a smile.

"Well what happened? Where is it?" Draco asked. A dragon that large couldn't really hide out here.

Harry pointed down with his finger to Draco's feet.

Draco slowly looked down to find himself staring into the eyes of a baby dragon. "…he's a little smaller than I imagined."

Harry burst out laughing at the look on Draco's face. "Honestly, did you think it would be born fully grown?"

Draco looked down at the dragon to see it scurry over to Dende and bump it's leg playfully.

Dende looked down to the baby dragon, then used its trunk to tickle the elephant playfully until it was rolling around the ground laughing.

Draco looked at his dragon with a snort of amusement. "Well it's a relief to know that my mind is so well …defended."

"He'll grow up to be big and strong." Harry assured him. "When he gets a little older he can stop anyone from entering your mind you don't want. It's the fastest way to protect you from Snape and Dumbledore."

"The fastest?" Draco asked. "Is there better ways to do it?"

"Remember what I told you, mind, magic, and body. When you have mastered all three there won't be anyone that would be capable of accessing your mind without your consent."

"Is he all we're going to be working on?" Draco asked as he looked down at the baby dragon that was standing by his feet now.

"Not quite, but I think you should give him a name." Harry said as he watched the playful dragon.

Draco looked at the dragon carefully, trying to think of a name that would fit. "…Trouble." Draco said with a smile he watched the baby dragon try to knock down Dende again, with the same results. "His name is going to be Trouble."

"Good choice," Harry said with a smile, easily seeing how well the name fit.

"Ok Draco, you have the basics of your forest down, but let's try for something a little more advanced. I want you to imaging a baby sapling forming in front of us." Harry instructed.

Draco nodded as closed his eyes and imagined a sapling pushing its way out of the ground.

When he finally stopped he was breathing heavily and had to wipe the sweat away from his brow. "That was tough."

"You did great Draco," Harry praised as he looked down at the sapling. "Do you know what you just did here?"

Draco just shook his head. He made a sapling. It was tough but it didn't seem to be anything overly important.

"That was the first step to linking your mind, magic and body." Harry instructed. "The sapling is connected to the forest which is a representation of your body. The roots are connected to the lake, which is a representation of your magic. It's just missing one final connection."

"The connection to my mind." Draco realized, wondering how he was going to do that.

"Right, now look up at the sky, what do you see?" Harry asked.

"Umm, grey, a few clouds?" Draco said looking up.

"Good, but what's missing?" Harry asked, knowing that Draco would arrive at the right conclusion.

"The sun," Draco realized. "Nothing can grow here without the sun."

"That's right," Harry smiled. "In this place the representation of the sun is your mind. Normally this wouldn't be safe to do because they grey you see in the sky now is your mind's way of clouding your thoughts. Someone can look into your head but it still takes some effort to find what they're looking for through all of the grey. When you allow the sun to come through your natural defense is stripped away."

"Then wouldn't it be a bad idea to take away the grey?" Draco asked in alarm. He didn't want to make it easier for anyone to enter his thoughts.

"That's what Trouble is for. He is in essence an avatar for your mind, and will physically fight off any mental attacks." Harry reminded him.

"But he doesn't seem to be big enough to put up much of a fight." Draco pointed out.

"He isn't now, but he will be soon." Harry replied.

"Then wouldn't it be better to wait a little while, until Trouble is stronger?" Draco asked.

"Ideally that's what should happen." Harry agreed. "The problem is until your mind, body and magic are linked it will happen very slowly. Trouble feeds off the resources that are available to it and grows stronger. If there's no sun for the forest, there's very little food for him, and he'll grow up too slowly. It may take a full year before Trouble is strong enough to protect your mind."

Draco knew that some of the things that Harry would do be dangerous, and in the interests of protecting his friends he would leave them out of it until they were physically ready, even at the cost of his own life. He refused to let Harry go through that alone. "Ok," Draco said as he started to picture the sun high up in the sky, forcing away all of the grey, leaving a clear blue sky behind.

"You did great Draco!" Harry praised happily. "Do you feel it?"

"…I do." Draco said with a smile. "This is incredible. It feels like this is the way it should have always been." He said as he marveled at the connection that was formed between his mind, magic, and body.

"I know." Harry agreed. "And in time you'll create more trees, more plants. They will act as bridges between you magic, mind and body." Harry explained.

"More of them?" Draco asked. "Why do I need more?" He asked curiously. It wasn't that he was lazy, it just seemed unnecessary.

"One tiny piece of string can't hold up very much." Harry explained. "But if you weave it together with other pieces of string it gets stronger, it can hold up more things, it can do more."

"It makes me stronger." Draco realized. "The more plants there are, the stronger the connection becomes."

"Exactly." Harry agreed as they exited his mind.

November 5th, Hogwarts, the Great Hall…

Harry ate his breakfast, at the Hufflepuff table, waiting for his subscription to the Quibbler to come in. A few minutes later an owl dropped of the newspaper beside his plate before flying off.

He quickly opened the newspaper to find himself to be the featured article on the first page.

By John Lovegood

It has recently been discovered that Harry, the current incarnation of Merlin is to adopted by either Minister Fudge or Headmaster Dumbledore. Both have stated the case as to why they are the logical choice to adopt Harry.

As most of our readers have no doubt been wondering why is it that Minister Fudge and Headmaster Dumbledore are the only ones being considered? According to wizarding law any magical family may petition the Wizengamot for custody of a child, and will have to be given as much consideration as any other candidate.

Has the wizarding world become so hardhearted, and callous that we do not have room at the table for one more child? A child that will grow to be a great leader among our people?

This reporter will not allow that to happen. I am formally requesting the guardianship of Harry, and urge every other magical family with the means to do the same. An event as important as this should be considered from all angles to give Harry the best choice available.

Harry finished reading the article with a smile. The quibbler didn't have quite the circulation that the Prophet had, but there was just enough that the information would spread by word of mouth as well.

It was by no means a solution, it was nothing more than a holding measure, but it did give Harry some time to step back, take stock of the situation, and find a real solution.

November 5th, the Ministry of Magic, Minister Fudge's office…

Cornelius paced around his office, he was not having a good day. No scratch that, he was having a horrible day. He had just got a summons for this afternoon to appear before the Wizengamot to discuss his accomplishments while in office.

Fudge knew that Dumbledore had to be involved in some way, but wondered what the old man had up his sleeve.

It had to have something to do with Merlin, more than likely some payback for denying the old man custody of Harry, but honestly did Dumbledore really think that he would let an opportunity like that slip through his fingers?

Unfortunately in a forum like this Dumbledore had a distinct advantage, he was not the one being questioned, it was not his past political history that would be examined.

Fudge knew that any insinuations that he made to Dumbledore's character would fall on deaf ears. The Wizengamot would see it as nothing more than a petty attempt to discredit the old man.

Whatever he did would have to be done very carefully. There was a very real possibility that Dumbledore could have him removed from office.

To Be Continued…